The Games We Play
by Kei Jones
Summary: Both had thought they were done with the game of love after Bella and Sam but some games never truly end. Jacob happens to find Leah in a deli and tries to approach her with a bit of interference. Blackwater fluff. Rated T for language.


The Games We Play

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Twilight characters but it would not tone down my excitement about meeting the actors who are bringing the characters to life.**

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All she wanted was some time away; some time alone to her own thoughts, feelings and inspiration. You can't have that when there are four other people invading your mind at all hours of the day; especially, if these four other people are forever within the sanctity of your own home. The Quileute Days were fast approaching, well at least three months away, and Leah needed to pull together something to sell to help bring some kind of cash flow into the household. Not everyone felt comfortable mooching off of the Cullens or 'accepting their scraps like common strays', which was her _exact_ words when Bella offered Leah an envelope with 'supposedly' cash inside.

Leah _still_ didn't like Isabella Cullen for her callous and clueless treatment of her, now, Alpha, Jacob Black. But Leah still had her Quileute pride and refused to accept hand-outs from 'white people'; she felt that she needed to earn her money and simply standing around while old, cold, dead white people talked to even older, cold dead white people did _not_ constitute as earning a day's pay. Besides she was a 'spirit warrior', a protector of the people of the land, it was her _duty_ to protect those who couldn't protect themselves. So she just didn't feel right about accepting monetary tribute for something that she was created to naturally do based upon instinct.

Ephraim was probably rolling over in his grave every time one of her brothers accepted the Cullens' hand-outs. Batman and Superman didn't get a paycheck every time they saved someone. Commissioner Gordon didn't tell Batman 'wait a minute while I sign this check. So you stopped the Penguin yesterday…he had…what? Like 8 minions? So that's…$250/minion and $500 for the ring leader? Does that sound good?'

_How much sense would that shit make?_

Shaking her head, Leah clears her thoughts because thinking of DC heroes would _not_ be appreciated by the Elders as part of the arts n' crafts booth. Looking up Leah takes in her surroundings; she'd left home and come to a small deli on the other side of Forks. It was a quaint mom and pop run establishment with great sandwiches and even better coffee. The place always finds some way of bringing in a nice size crowd from the elderly who want to grab a quick bite to eat and play chess or checkers outside to the college kids back home for the summer and the small tables and chairs remind them of the other world that they've left behind.

Turning her attention back to her sketch pad Leah gets back to work. Harry had always been great at woodwork and it was a skill that he passed on to his children but it was Leah that gained the natural talent for it. Ever since she was 13 she'd make at least two nice pieces of work to sale during the powwow and with every piece that was bought it filled her with a sense of self-worth and accomplishment. She'd also volunteered to help work on this year's canoes which gave her a reason to not sport the wolf coat and exchange pleasantries with Sam and Emily.

A song begins playing over the soft speakers inside the deli and suddenly an idea hits her. Leah's smile widens as she begins furiously sketching; her mind's eye taking in the dimensions of the piece of wood that she'll work with, her pencil tip whittling and smoothing out the fine details and her soul prepares to pour into the work. It'll be the part of her that she puts into it that will draw potential buyers. The rest of the world is tuned out as Leah continues working.

Jacob walks down the street surrounded by the rest of his pack minus Leah. Seth and Embry are both laughing at some joke that Quil has made; Jacob smiles appreciatively at the comment made. His thoughts have continued returning to his beta, Leah. He'd not really seen much of her lately and he couldn't help but wonder what she'd been up to. Billy had mentioned to him the Quileute Days but that wasn't until July and it was still April and there was plenty of time to prepare…something. As the Chief's son it was now time for Jacob to start playing a more active role into the festivities instead of just walking around enjoying the dancing, flirting with girls and picking or breaking up fights with the other Makah and Spokane boys. He's wanted to talk to Leah about her participation as she always does as least three things for the celebration.

"I'm hungry." Seth whines as his stomach rumbles and everyone else's answers back.

"What's Leah been up to?" Quil asks with a small frown.

"I was lucky to catch her making breakfast today." Embry throws out with a small smile.

"Yea, cuz there was nothing left for me _after_ you were done." Seth growls out pushing Embry roughly. Embry laughs as he's knocked into Quil and the three begin roughly pushing one another.

"Calm down," Jacob orders firmly. Over the last year, he's learned not to let any of the wolves get too worked up in their rough housing; it usually led to someone phasing and the playing continuing. The three stop, straightening up and looking at Jacob respectfully. "Look…uh, I've got some money left over let's eat at the deli down the street." Jacob offers up with a shrug.

Turning around and continuing on down the street, Jacob doesn't have to look at the three guys behind him to know that they are smiling and excited about the prospect of another free meal. Again, Jacob's thoughts wander back to Leah and he frowns wishing that she was here with him or at least so he could feed her for once.

The deli is soon in sight and the boys walk in and stand in line waiting for their turn to order. The moment the door closes and the air circulate around the deli is when Jacob catches a familiar, warm and sweet scent of Leah Clearwater. His eyes quickly scan the dining area and fall upon the object of his search. She's sitting at a small table by the window, cup of coffee off to the side, her head angled so that her face is easily visible for all to see, her eyes dancing across the paper and a small smile on her full lips. Jacob's sensitive ears pick up Leah's soft humming to the music playing in the background as she works.

"Hey, there's Leah." Embry points out as he nods his head in her direction.

"She – she looks happy." Quil quietly comments as all boys stand still watching her.

"She must've come up with an idea for a drawing, painting or maybe a statue." Seth states simply as he moves up ahead of his friends to place his order. Reluctantly, Jacob tears his eyes off of Leah to place his order and pay for the others food. He grabs a few cupcakes and debates over whether or not he should offer them up to Leah.

They all sit down and begin eating their sandwiches, talking amongst themselves. Jacob still keeps a close eye on Leah and notices that she's wearing her short cotton shorts, again. Her long legs and bare shoulders glow under the soft sunlight that is streaming past the clouds and into the window landing softly on her skin and hers alone. Jacob sits patiently waiting for the right moment to make his presence known to her and feels himself feeling slightly confused. Why does he have to wait? Is he trying to build himself up to talking to her?

Leah suddenly stops her sketching and puts her pencil down. Her smile begins to widen as she holds her sketch pad up in front of her smiling at her handiwork.

"Hey, seems like you've finished." Leah looks up to see a tall, copper-skinned man smiling down at her. His smile is subtle and his eyes shine with interest.

"Yea, I am…or at least the rough draft." Leah says smiling back up at the man. He's Native that she's certain of but she can only speculate that he's from Makah as she doesn't really recognize him.

"Looks like you were really enjoying focusing on your pad." He continues on and touches the back of the chair across from her. Jacob watches with raised eyebrows of surprise and a deep frown of jealousy.

_Who the fuck does this guy think he is flirting with Leah? I mean…why _shouldn't_ he flirt with her? She's beautiful, funny, and loyal and sweet she wants to be. Of _course_ any guy would want to talk to Leah._

"Yea, inspiration just suddenly hit me and I had to run with it." Leah says as the man sits down and she goes back to looking at her work.

Jacob looks on with a deep frown as Leah and the man continue talking. Sometimes he makes her laugh and she pays the favor back; the intent of a successful flirt is all too obvious.

"Jake, calm down, man." Seth says roughly nudging Jacob. Jacob only turns and glares darkly at Seth daring the pup to tell him what to do again. "It's just that you keep staring at them like you're going to rip the guy's head off." Seth mumbles softly. There are benefits to having your sister be a part of a wolf pack and especially the beta; a bit of respect and safety from bodily harm.

"Well…that guy _has_ been talking to Leah for quite some time now." Embry adds in Jacob's defense.

"The guy's got balls, I'll give him that." Quil says before finishing off the rest of his juice.

"And that line about not buying her anything because he decided she probably would've purchased it already was a nice touch." Embry adds and Jacob looks down at the untouched cupcakes he'd bought for Leah. He _knows_ that Leah can buy her own damn cupcakes; she's the only one out of both packs that has managed to find a way to bring in some kind of income that didn't involve the Cullens. It's just that he thought it'd be a nice gesture, a sign of appreciation for all that she's done for him – _all_ of them.

_Does this mean that she'd not _want_ the cupcakes? Or will she think that _I_ think that she can't take care of herself?_

"The guy _obviously_ doesn't know about Sam or _us_. So there's nothing holding him back." Seth adds as his eyes narrow when the man lightly touches Leah's arm.

"Well, it was nice talking to you, Leah. Maybe I'll see you around?" The man says standing up and smiling down at Leah.

"Maybe, take care, Eric." Leah says sweetly with a small wave. Eric turns and walks out the door, completely oblivious of the dark glares he's receiving from Jacob Black and his friends.

Turning his attention back to Leah, Jacob sighs glad that the two did nothing more than exchange names and pleasantries.

_She didn't give him her number. Great._

"Aren't you going to over there and talk to her?" Quil asks smirking at Jacob. Seth and Embry both turn to look back at Jacob as he begins to blush.

"What…no!" Jacob hisses as his body tenses and he hunches his shoulders. "That _other_ guy just left, I'm not going to just walk up to her now."

"That'd make you look desperate." Embry states with a nod of his head knowingly with a small smile on his face.

"_Or_ it makes you look as if you were being respectful of her personal space." Seth adds. "What?" Seth asks with a furrowed brow as Jacob, Embry and Quil give him a weird look. "I'm just saying that it _could_." Seth defends himself with a weak shrug as he hangs his head and eyes one of Jacob's untouched cupcakes.

"So…either, Leah _thinks_ you're a _respectful_, creepy stalker that's been hanging in the background listening to her flirt with some random guy. _Or_ you come off as just casually noticing her and striking up a conversation with that extra cupcake you got there." Quil says pointing at the pair of cupcakes sitting in the middle of the table.

Minutes pass as Jacob debates over how best to approach his beta. Usually, he'd have no problem walking up to Leah and talking to her. But there's been something about the content smile on her face and friendly, approachable look about her. Angry Leah is easy to for him to handle because he's used to aggressive, angry, violent Leah. That's a Leah he can tease and wrestle with – and he _loves_ wrestling with Leah.

Just as Jacob has not only worked up the nerve to approach Leah but has felt that a substantial amount of time has passed is when the guy behind the counter approaches her.

_You've _got_ to be shitting me._

Jacob sits down with a low growl as Embry and Quil both laugh at his luck and poor timing.

"I told you to go make your move earlier." Seth states with an 'I told you so' attitude.

Jacob is forced to sit back and watch again as some other guy flirts with Leah, commenting her on her interest in her work and her 'beautiful smile'. Jacob feels the muscles in his back tightening as Leah laughs and tucks some stray strands of hair behind her ear.

"Classic chick flirting move." Quil adds chuckling as he turns back around to face Jacob. Jacob glares at Quil trying to fight the urge to punch him in his smug looking face.

"Doesn't he have customers to wait on?" Jacob grumbles out as he turns around and finds the small deli pretty much empty save a few other couples and some teenagers all texting.

"I hope you come back soon, Leah." The boy at the counter finishes up as he gives Leah a small wave and returns back to this station.

Jacob lets out a sigh of relief as he scans the room for any other potential cock-blockers or grade-A douche bags to play interference in his approach. Once Jacob is certain is that all is in the clear, he turns around and is surprised to find Leah standing off to the side of him.

"What brings you boys out and about?" Leah asks, her left hand sitting comfortably and confidently on her hip and her right hanging casually with the sketchbook.

"Jake offered to buy us all lunch." Quil states with a smirk. His comment draws Leah's attention immediately towards her Alpha.

"Oh, well isn't that sweet." Leah says as Jacob's eyes narrow, his fists clench and he sucks in his lips. One of these days, his fist and Quil's face will get reacquainted.

"Yea, well I had some money left over and Seth said he was hungry. I didn't know where you were otherwise I would've invited you." Jacob says as Quil and Embry both look down at the table trying to control their laughter and Seth watches their exchange with quiet interest.

"Eh, don't feel bad about it." Leah says playfully pushing Jacob.

"So…what have you been drawing?" Jacob asks pointing at Leah's sketchpad.

"Well it's not finished yet." Leah says. Jacob smiles reassuringly at the slight hint of hesitation in Leah's voice.

"Oh, c'mon, Lee. You can show _me_." Jacob says with a warm smile. His hand reaching out and gently grabbing hold of Leah's wrist that holding the book. "Is this what's going to put the Mason's work to shame?"

"I've got to pick up Claire from Emily's." Quil cuts in excusing himself as he gets up. There's a brief glance between Quil and Jacob as he turns to leave.

"Yea and I remembered I promised to run some errands for my mom." Embry says standing up, throwing out his excuse. "Seth, you wanna help me out?" Embry asks directing his attention towards the youngest boy.

"Nah, I'm good." Seth mumbles. Embry frowns as Seth keeps his gaze locked on Jacob and a frown settles on his face.

"You'll get to see that cute check-out girl at Target." Embry throws out and without awaiting a response back from Seth; he roughly snatches Seth under the arm and yanks him out the chair. Leah watches with a frown and Jacob with relief as Embry drags Seth out of the deli.

"You gonna eat that cupcake?" Leah asks. Jacob turns around with a smile as he notices Leah pointing at one of the cupcakes on the table.

"You gonna show me what you've been working on?" Jacob asks. With a shrug, Leah sits down next to Jacob and offers him her sketch pad and he offers her a cupcake. The two sit talking and laughing as Jacob flips through Leah's book and she eats the final cupcake.

"This has been an interesting day." Leah comments to herself as Jacob holds the door open for her.

"How so?" Jacob asks taking Leah's bag from her and slinging it over his shoulder.

"Normally, _nobody_ pays me any attention and this time I was actually focused on something other than people; cute guys start flirting with me."

"So, you think I'm cute, huh?" Jacob teases and playfully bumps into Leah. His stomach pools with warmth as Leah pushes back into him, their bodies pressing against one another for a few seconds.

"Eric was _definitely_ cute and Daniel wasn't too bad." Leah states. "So, you think _you're_ flirting with _me_?" Leah throws back causing Jacob to pause for half-a-step.

"Yea, yea this is _me_ flirting with _you_." Jacob says taking Leah's hand into his and intertwines their fingers. Leah looks down at their hands and back up at Jacob before looking away with a blush. "I'd say that I'm doing a damn good job at 'flirting' with you, huh?" Jacob pushes poking Leah's reddened cheek with his index finger.

Jacob chuckles as Leah swats his finger away and glares up at him. The two continue walking back towards La Push, hand-in-hand.

Life and love is sometimes a game played for fun, entertainment, a challenge or even to build a future upon. Jacob can't help but wonder now in this moment if whether or not he can say that he 'lost' in the game of love with Edward and Bella. There was _once_ something about the girl that had drawn him in and now after two years, he can't seem to remember what it is. However, he's not forgotten what has continually drawn him to Leah Clearwater. Whether it's the soft hazel in her eyes, her deep frown and blazing eyes of anger, her beautiful body, the way she mumbles softly in her sleep or the warm content look that can so easily take over her whole persona. She's strong, confident, loyal, determined, strong-willed, family-oriented, full of tribe pride, dependable and _coordinated_. Jacob chalks it up to silly teenage hormones that drawn him into a klutzy and awkward girl who was never meant to fit into his world; whether human or wolf.

Leah bites back a smile as her hand that's locked with Jacob's begins to rock back and forth gently between them. She can't help but notice how the warmth of Jacob's hand holding onto hers tightly and securely giving her a sense of 'perfection'. If there's anything that Leah Clearwater knows it's that there's no such thing as 'perfect' in this world; especially hers. Even the vampires are all flawed, maybe not in the physical sense but definitely in the psychological, social and emotional sense. Isabella Cullen was an undead walking example of that. But standing beside Jacob Black just feels so _right_ and whatever insecurities she may have or have dealt with aren't a weakness in his eyes. Jacob understands her and she understands him.

Instinctively and in unison they both squeeze the other's hand and in that exchange there is a silent understanding – life is a game and there's no one else in the world that they'd want to have by their side for the journey than the other.

"Leah, would you like to go out with me Saturday night?" Jacob asks breaking the comfortable silence once Leah's home is in sight.

"Yea, I would." Leah says smiling up at Jacob sweetly. Jacob feels a part of his heart, a part that has long since lain dormant since Bella's heart stopped beating, begin to swell up with hope and warmth. Both had thought they were done with the game of love after Bella and Sam but some games never truly end.

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A/N: So this idea suddenly hit me after reading an article about 'flirting' and that I had my own flirting experience while working out with my personal trainer. Heheheh. But it just seemed to fit so well for Jacob and Leah that I had to write it up.

If you're a fan of Wake-up Call and decided to check this out than let me apologize for the delay in updating. I really did mean to work on it Tuesday and have the next update ready to post but I had an aunt die suddenly on Tuesday morning. Since hearing the news I've not really had the energy or the muse to even look at that story - maybe because it's so heavy and deep. But that's part of the explanation; after that it's just been so busy with work, family matters, 3-yr olds playing soccer, 16-yr old making varsity, I've gotten back into playing video games on the regular _and_ I'm going to be out of town for the Twi-con in Chicago.

So don't expect to see anything else from me unless that article has been enough to pull me out of my funk. Then again it's already 12:20 here, eastern States side time, and that means I'm already half-way through my day. I will have my laptop with me and I might own up to my buddy that I'm a secret-Twilight-fanfic writer (so Brit, if you read this before I track you down DON'T say a WORD!) lmao. It's not that I'm ashamed because my sis already knows I write stories and has even read some of them. O_o?

Sis, if you're reading this now than you're a creepy fanfic stalker! Get a life! Or at least leave me a review for ONCE! You prude! XD

Okay, but I'm really excited and feel like I'm about to POP with excitment...or maybe that's just with arou...ahem *clears throat* Anyways...I hope you all enjoyed this. Sorry for any grammar or missing words. When I'm at work I don't proofread my stuff...and chelly! I just NOW remembered you sent me a story. I meant to beta it on Tuesday but I've completely forgotten. T-T I'm such a bad beta right now. Okay, when I get back from lunch, I will read it, proof it and send it right back to you! I. PROMISE!

As for everyone else, I want you all to have a great weekend, thanks for reading and show a girl some love - leave a review. There's people in other countries I've never heard from: Turkey - I'm looking at you! Japan I've got my eye on you! Brazil and Sweden...I have a _pretty_ good idea that it's Laurenzeleta (sp? - sorry) and hilja. LOL.

So luvs, hugs and WILF kisses to you all!


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